A joint meeting of Georgian and Abkhazian partners was held in Istanbul on March 19-23 within the framework of the project: "Gender Aspects of Human Security, Risks, Mitigation strategies". The meeting of the Georgian and Abkhazian women groups began with the presentation of action plans and the introduction of the agenda. The women shared the situational analysis in their regions and exchanged information about the challenges and problems of everyday life. According to the results of the activities, group work was held in the form of the monitoring report in 2024. The main challenges were defined, the issues of human security for women, assessment and risk management were discussed. They talked about what risk is and what we do to eliminate it, what is the difference between risk, danger and coercion. The work was fruitful and productive. During the meeting, reduction of all possible and existing risks in terms of women's work was discussed.

The youth initiative group of the village Koki - Zugdidi municipality worked on refining the goals and objectives of the project proposal. They learned to work on the project and turn the idea into a project at the training held in Kutaisi. As a result, working versions of two projects were prepared, which will be presented to the commission. The women initiative group conducted a research on the topic "Assessment of the quality of human security and gender needs of the population in Zugdidi municipality". They continue to work in direction of advocacy.

The members of Didinedzi women initiative group discussed women's needs and existing problems during exchange meetings. Such a format, according to the participants, was important for sharing experience and for mutual cooperation. The members of Didinedzi youth group worked on the preparation of projects, which is a step forward in the process of submitting the works to the competition commission.

Domestic violence against women is a problem that is directly connected to security risks and affects the functioning of each sector/sphere of society. Elaboration of correct indicators will ensure early identification of cases of violence and prevention of violence. - This is stated in the introduction of new publication.

Title of the publication: “Risk indicators of domestic violence against women (review of official statistics).” Challenges, recommendations and an overview of official statistics are presented here. This publication is placed on the web-page https://sosfsokhumi.ge/

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

During the meeting of the working group of IDP women and girls, the participants once again worked on advocacy plans, reviewed the planned activities to solve the problem step by step, finalized the plan and distributed responsibilities. These are the opinions of the group members:

“I feel that a literate citizen is gradually growing within me.”

“My view on problem solution has changed. Before that, I thought that all I had to do was to write an application and then wait to see whether the local government would take care of us or not.”

“We need the right information in order to achieve our goal. I love the education I get here.”

Within the framework of our project members of the working group study ways and methods of achieving the goal - using the example of their own problems.

A meeting with members of the working group of IDP women and girls was held on the topic “Determining the dynamics of the advocacy plan”.

Participants were once again given the opportunity to review a sample advocacy plan, clarify responsible persons, outline planned activities, and propose a reasonable time frame for starting the advocacy process.

The group members noted that they would definitely use the theoretical knowledge acquired within the project to effectively carry out advocacy.

On April 13 and 14, members of the working group of IDP women and girls attended a training on: “Budget advocacy and citizen participation in self-government.” All four groups – 80 people – took part in the training.

What is the budget, what does the local government program mean, what benefits are provided, what services can IDP women and girls living in Kutaisi use to improve their living conditions - the training participants were informed about these issues. They expressed their opinions:

“It was a necessary and useful training that made many things obvious for us.”

“We learned about responsibilities of local government, what can we demand and what local government cannot do.”

“It turns out that you need to follow the application procedure and register on time.”

“We have found that only application is not enough to satisfy a request or requirement.”

“We learned that it is important to have the right information.”

The project is implemented with the support of  USAID local governance program

- Women need help, they need empowerment. This requires information dellivery, which is provided by the Women Fund “Sukhumi”. We always feel supported, which is very important,” these were the assessments of participants of information meetings at Women Support Centers.

The meetings were held in frames of a new project, which means that information and support for women will continue for another three years. Beneficiaries will again receive various services from the Women Fund “Sukhumi” - consultations with a psychologist and a lawyer will continue to respond to identified problems.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The Women Fund “Sukhumi” has developed “Practical instructions for the effective functioning of the mechanism of municipal coordination to combat domestic violence against women.”

Effective work to combat violence against women requires systematic, consistent and coordinated actions of all authoritative departments, both at the central and local levels.

The goal of the practical guide is to provide practical advices to interdepartmental commissions of municipalities on how to implement an effective and coordinated response to domestic violence at local level. The document is based on best international and local practices.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

“The phenomenon of domestic violence” became the main topic of meetings of psychologist Ekatarine Kvachakidze. Domestic violence is the most common form of violence. Some researchers argue that the rapist himself witnessed violence in childhood. This is the theory of “learned behavior.” Bad habits, drugs, alcohol, etc. contribute to violence. We discussed these issues at a group meeting with teachers, where everyone expressed their opinion.

Recent researches have shown that many rapists control themselves more, while women accept their fate, become passive and do not seek a way out.

The aim of the meeting with a psychologist is for women to overcome the “weak woman” within themselves and continue to live with new vision and strength.

Individual and group meetings were held at Women Support Centers of Kobuleti, Vani, Zugdidi (Koki, Didinedzi), Tsalenjikha (Pakhulani).

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)